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WHY DO WRITERS LOVE AN AMAZON REVIEW

5 reviews prove to the writer that people have actually read their work.

10 reviews and other readers believe that the book is worth a peek.

20 reviews and the writer now believes in their own work.

50 reviews and both the writer and the readers join up, go down the pub, and drink copious amounts of alcohol.

100 reviews and the magic flows. The dragons fly in the fan mail every day, the imps open it and deal with all the messages of adoration, and the elves organize the never ending party before promoting their own website called, ‘You call, we answer, we fly anywhere, anytime, 24/7.’

If you want the magic of words to captivate you, please leave a review for all your favorite authors.

In all honesty, reviews are so very important to a writer. No matter how good a book may be, without reviews it just sits there, eventually withering away. If you took the time to read a book, please take a few moments more and put in a review at Amazon. Those few moments might just be a deciding factor in the fate of that book.

Simply enter the book title at https://www.amazon.com and put in your review. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. Any kind words will do. Sample; “I read Thisbook by Thatguy and I really liked it!” Done! Takes maybe a few seconds to write and it could bring a lifetime of joy to a writer. And on my part, even bad reviews are welcomed. You didn’t like the book? Tell me why and maybe I can fix it.

A review is simply put, a thank you to a writer for giving you a bit of pleasure. You tip doormen, waitresses and government officials…why not writers?

Who Really Assassinated JFK?

If You Were Alive at the Time, You Remember That Day in Dallas

Yes, if you were alive that day November 22, 1963 you remember where you were at, and what was going on, when you heard that the president had been shot. I was with my family at Winn Dixie in Jacksonville, Florida at the time. They announced over the loudspeaker that the president had been shot and then just a few minutes later, as we were standing at the checkout, they announced that the president had died in Dallas. I remember looking across the checkout aisles and people were crying in line. The lady checking out my mom was crying and so was my Mom. America changed that day. It has never been the same and never will be. Who really shot Kennedy? It’s always been a question asked by people all over the world. I think that the US government knows the truth and has kept it hidden. It is my belief that Oswald did not shoot anyone. A recent photo has come out of Oswald watching the motorcade. If he was, he could not have possibly shot anyone.

We don’t know how many have died because of what they knew about the Kennedy assassination. I think that the American people have the right to know the truth about who killed him. I, for one, will always wonder about what happened that day in Dallas and in the days that followed.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

John Fitzgerald Kennedy born May 17th, 1917 was the 35th president of the United States. He was also the youngest man to ever be elected president. Kennedy served from 1960 until his death in 1963. His brother, Robert, was later assassinated and his son John Jr. later died in a plane crash.

Some very important events in history occurred during his time in office. Among them was the Bay Of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall and the start of the Space Race. Recently there has been much speculation that Fidel Castro may have been involved in the murder.

President Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 and Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with the murder and was subsequently killed by Jack Ruby two days later. Ruby later died in prison of cancer and may have been ordered to snuff Oswald to cover up the fact that he was innocent.

The Warren Commission ruled that Oswald acted alone. However in 1979, the House Committee ruled that it was likely that a conspiracy did exist and that he did not act alone.

And we also now have photos showing Oswald standing in the doorway of the Book Depository when Kennedy was shot. If he was in that doorway when the shots were fired, then he was innocent.

If it’s proven that it is him in that photo, then the American people have been told a lie all these years and the people who carried out this crime need to be brought to justice.

The Zapruder Film: Truth or Deception?

Oswald Did Not Shoot Kennedy

If the photo below can be believed then Oswald did not shoot John F. Kennedy. He could not have. If the photo is real then Oswald was standing downstairs when the deadly shots rang out.

Multiple Theories Arose

If Oswald was not the shooter, then there was indeed a conspiracy. Recently it has become public knowledge that Oswald and Jack Ruby probably did know each other before any of the events happened. If so, then it is very likely that he was what he claimed to be all along, a patsy. Oswald was set up and Ruby was sent in to kill him and keep him silent. Some people theorized that Oswald would be killed by the police or secret service and would never stand trial. But when he was arrested he had to be eliminated and Ruby, who had deep connections to the mafia, was ordered in to kill him.

It is looking more and more possible that Louisiana’s New Orleans District Attorney Garrison was right on track and that possibly quite possibly the U.S. Government and the Mafia were in on the plot to kill John F. Kennedy.

The American people deserve to know the truth about what happened in Dallas on that cold November afternoon all those years ago. They have a right to know who killed Jack Kennedy. If Oswald did not pull the trigger, then who did?

Was it a team of snipers that killed him, while Oswald watched from the doorway, when he was supposed to be upstairs shooting the President?

And when he was taken into custody, instead of being killed, was Jack Ruby ordered to go in and kill Oswald to keep the truth from ever coming out?

If all of this went on, is it so far fetched to believe that President Johnson may have indeed been behind the murder? Maybe that is the reason that Bobby Kennedy, and later John Jr., were killed. They were killed to keep the truth hidden.

And in recent years, it has been theorized that possibly Fidel Castro was behind the murder of all three of the Kennedy’s. Maybe the operation that was started to kill Castro was turned back on Kennedy. Maybe our president was killed on his orders.

What Do I Think?

I think that all three Kennedy’s were killed on the orders of President Johnson and others. I think Bobby Kennedy and later John Jr. were killed to keep the truth hidden from the American public. I think America was changed forever on that November afternoon in Dallas. I would love to see the truth to come out about the murder but I just don’t know if the truth will ever come out.

Recently Released Photo Showing Oswald in Doorway During the JFK Presidential Motorcade When He Was Supposed to Be Shooting the President

Photos of President John Kennedy (Including Many from the Crime Scene)

Click thumbnail to view full-size

The Kennedy’s Are Looking Happy In This Photo. The Shots Are About To Be Fired.

Oswald in Doorway When He Is Supposed to Be Upstairs

There is no doubt in my mind that Lee Oswald is standing there in the doorway of the Book Depository building in the photo above. The American people have been lied to and fed a line of B.S. It’s really a serious crime. We have been lied to by people in the highest levels of the American government, and they thought they could keep us in the dark forever.

Why Is Lee Harvey Oswald in That Doorway?

But now photos of Oswald standing in that doorway are everywhere and if you’re an American citizen you should care. You should be writing to your congress person and senator and asking them what is Lee Harvey Oswald doing in that doorway? You should ask who killed John Kennedy and why is it still being covered up? I really believe that there was a conspiracy and I think that presidents, congressmen, and senators have known the truth and they have gone right along with telling the American people a lie.

As an American Citizen and Former U.S. Naval Officer I’m Seriously Concerned About This, as Should Be Every American Citizen

We were told a story down through the years since the assassination and over the years they have changed the story again and again, as needed. They think we should just forget about it and move on. America was seriously changed that day in Dallas– part of it died.

Robert Kennedy and John Kennedy Jr. Were Killed to Cover up This LieI believe that they killed Robert Kennedy to cover up the lie and I believe they also killed John Kennedy Jr. If Ted Kennedy had ever become a serious candidate for president he would have been killed.

Lee Harvey Oswald Was Killed to Hide the Continuing ConspiracyHe was set up to take the blame for killing the president and Ruby was ordered to kill him to prevent a trial in Dallas. It’s not that farfetched to think that Ruby was given an injection of cancer cells to kill him off and keep him silent.

Did President Johnson Know Kennedy Was Killed by the U.S. Government?I believe that the conspiracy went all the way up to President Johnson and probably included many more people than we realize. I believe that President Johnson was in on the murder of the president and may have even approved the actions. By removing Kennedy, he was able to keep the Vietnam War going and it created billions of dollars of income for companies supplying weapons to the U.S. Government in Vietnam. Johnson would not run for a second term as U.S. President. Did Robert Kennedy threaten to expose Johnson? Is this why Johnson chose to not seek a second term as U.S. President?

Check Out These Photos Carefully

Photos of Lee Harvey Oswald And another photo of Oswald in the doorway of the building.

You can see Lee Harvey Oswald Standing In The Doorway And If He Was In The Doorway He Could Not Be Shooting President Kennedy

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“It is perfectly okay to write garbage—as long as you edit brilliantly.”

— C. J. Cherryh

The goal of the rewrite is simple, but not easy. You want your story to live. To accomplish this, it’s helpful to have a basic confidence in the arc of your heroine’s journey before getting more specific with character, dialogue, and the refinement of prose. You’re seeking to create a story that amuses and entertains, but also captures some complexity and truth about the human experience.

This is a daunting task because—be honest—there’s a bit of inflexibility in your relationship with your first draft. On the one hand, you fear that if it’s not told as precisely as you imagined it, it won’t work. On the other hand, it feels somewhat unsatisfying as written.

So the biggest challenge in the rewriting is being able to make a thousand little painful paper-cut changes while avoiding…

This week’s guest author is Ed Ireland, a self-confessed gaming addict, and a fun guy to interview. When I send these interview questions out to authors, I have no idea what’s going to come back, if anything. But Ed provided an entertaining set of responses, that I’m sure you’ll enjoy reading.

Introducing Ed Ireland

Ed Ireland was born in Philadelphia on September 29, 1954. In January of 1955, the hospital he was born in was torn down. Presumably, they didn’t want anything like that happening again. His adolescence was shaped in Catholic school where the proper use of the common language was the only thing that mattered to the short but strong nuns.

In 1972 he joined the military where his wanderlust surfaced. He has since called many places home such as Texas, California, Nevada, Colorado, Pennsylvania New Jersey, New York and North Carolina while on his way to his…

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Well, there are two classes of writers in the world today. There are the titans…Steven King, George R.R. Martin, Gregory Maguire, John Updike…you get the idea. The writers that are well known, easy to find in your local Barns & Noble.

Then there is the other group. The mighty not-so-titanish…Angela B. Chrysler, C. L. Schneider, Shane Wilson and even yours truly, Ed Ireland. These names are not lighting up Barns & Noble.

But that’s ok. We write because we love to write. Kind of like the titans did before they were fitted with the fabulous lifestyles that demand new stories every day. At least that’s how we console ourselves. And let’s call a spade a spade here. Any writer that says he or she doesn’t really want that kind of success…the J.K. Rowling kind…is full of it!

So, we have given ourselves our very own day. Indie Pride Day. The day that all independent writers gather in one voice and say “Goddamnit! I can write as good as they can! Where’s MY friggin’ contract???”

There are lots of great things going on today and tomorrow to celebrate that sorrowful voice in the darkness.

Over at Goodreads – a kind of support group for those writers – there are great meet-the-writer thingies happening every hour. You can find that here at Goodreads Book Blast hosted by a very sweet, hard-working lady named Angela.

Goodreads is a pretty good place to start if you actually want to support the world of Indie Writers. With more than 20 million members, you’ll find books, book reviews and general writer silliness to last you for years. So forget George Martin and his Throne Games…find an indie writer that speaks to your inner warrior…or romantic.

After all, some pretty big names started as indie writers. E.L. James – 50 Shades of Gray, John Grisham – A Time To Kill, Beatrix Potter – The Tales of Peter Rabbit just to name a few. Indie writers are not the lepers of the literary world, despite what the big publishing houses would have you think.

“I don’t need anybody to buy my books” said no indie writer ever. We need the book-reading world to do just that. Buy our books, read them and if you like them, be sure to talk about us. Leave reviews on Amazon or Goodreads and any other place you can think of. Spread the word.

Bring us in from the cold. Just think, you could be that one person that can say, “I read their book before anybody even knew who they were!” That’s gotta be a very cool thing to have for a conversation at a party.

And if it’s my books you’re talking about, you drop me a line and by gosh I’ll give you my phone number and you can call me from the party and I’ll verify it! Hell, tell me when and where and I’ll go to the party with you!

Yes, like every other indie writer, I’m willing to go the extra mile.

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So, first parents are expected to shape their children. Fair enough. We bring them into the world, so who else should have the responsibility of making them viable members of society? Well, the second most important influence on our children should be their teachers. And of that group, a child’s first teacher is the most important.

It is that teacher that shapes the child’s learning experience for years to come. It is his or her influence that will dictate how the child perceives school from their first day on. I should know. I have just gone through an insane school year with my daughter.

Now at first, we planned on home-schooling the child. The schools in the area we lived in were not what we felt was conducive to learning anything above basics. So, in our naive way, we opted to not enroll her in pre-K. I’ve never understood what that was anyway. I mean, isn’t kindergarten where you start learning?

Apparently not.

This is the public library in Bay Shore, NY. Where we lived. We took our daughter there every weekend where she learned to read. Voraciously. Then we moved to Florida, land of opportunity. We love it here and everything is perfect. By the Gods, we even got our daughter enrolled in a Cambridge “A” school!

Then we met Mrs. Rodriguez…Grumpy Cat as I call her.

We spoke to her, letting her know that our daughter had never been in a classroom of any kind. We told her that she could read. She said “Oh good. She can read simple children’s books?” We answered “No, she can read the Wall Street Journal.” The teacher gave a condescending smile and explained to us that kindergarten was far different that what we expected. From what I gathered, kindergarten was the new third grade.

My daughter’s handwriting was atrocious to say the least, but her reading skills were phenomenal to say the least. Every day, my wife would pick up my daughter and Grumpy Cat would berate her, saying that my daughter’s writing needed improvement. We worked hard with her and we were seeing improvement coming steadily. Grumpy Cat apparently wanted it instantly.

So began a year of misery. We couldn’t understand why the teacher never saw any of the good. The above-average grades in everything, and the improvement of her handwriting. Instead, Grumpy Cat chose to continue harassing her about her writing, even in front of the class. Soon enough, my daughter was ostracized from the rest. They made fun of her, refused to sit or play with her and then, the bullying started.

She came home one day without her juice cup. When we questioned her, we found out finally that another girl took it away from her and threw it out. Then we found out that she was being pushed by some of the children.

We were furious.

We went to Grumpy Cat who casually told us she never saw anything like that. But, she did remind us that her handwriting needed work.

Fuck!

So we decided to go above her and spoke to the assistant principle. She in turn directed us to the counselor. The counselor investigated and a few days later, assured us that any bullying would stop immediately and that my daughter would be tested. It seems that Grumpy Cat said she was a disrupting factor in the classroom now. Perhaps, the problem was that she was bored in class or it may be something else.

According to Grumpy, she was in need of some child-restraining drug like Ritalin. Her report said my daughter was hyperactive, disobedient, disruptive and rude. A prime case of ADHD.

My wife cried for days as we waited for the doctor to examine her. My wife works for the best neurosurgeon in Miami. He checked my daughter over and gave my wife this diagnosis. “She’s five. She does what every normal five year old does. I’m not prescribing anything for her. Nothing is wrong.”

This was the beginning of a long battle with the Cambridge “A” school.

For the rest of the year, we fought with the teacher. Her gems of wisdom started with “Kindergarten is not supposed to be fun! It’s for learning!” and ended with “Maybe if your daughter didn’t show she was smarter that the other children so often, they would like her better.” Yes, you read that right. The teacher suggested we dumb down our daughter to make the rest of the class happier.

Meanwhile, my daughter was getting worse. She would complete her work, long before the other children, and with nothing to do the trouble started. She would get up and go to the bathroom and decide to go check out other things along the way. We suggested the teacher give her something to do to keep her in her seat and were told “I don’t have time to see to one student.”

Testing showed that Alexa…my daughter…read at almost a fourth grade level. Not only could she read the words, but she understood what they were. Therefor, all of her other subjects were coming easily to her. The only problem, it was almost the end of the school year. There was less than two months of school left. No point in moving her to gifted now. Grumpy Cat had been refusing to do that all year.

Yesterday, we went to Alexa’s graduation. Each teacher got up and gave awards to the children in their class that excelled. Grumpy Cat’s turn came and she started handing out awards. When it was time for “Excellence in Reading”, my wife and I sat up a little taller. Then, we watched another child get that award. We watched Alexa’s shoulders slump. The teacher herself had admitted many times that Alexa was far beyond any of the other children in reading.

Fuck…again.

I wanted to write this as soon as we got home. There would have been way too many f-bombs had I written it then. I was angry. The first teacher of any child should understand that they will shape the way that child sees school for the rest of their days. Grumpy Cat didn’t care. She showed my daughter that school is not the fun place we had led her to believe it was. It wasn’t the place where she would learn so many new and exciting things.

It was the place where she would be ridiculed for the single area she wasn’t proficient in despite her advances. It was the place where other children would ostracize her and the teacher didn’t care. Finally, it would be the place where the teacher’s spite would cheat her out of an award she deserved.

I know a lot of very good teachers. Teachers that understand exactly how important they are, especially to children just starting school. I respect and admire these men and women that take on this responsibility. They are underpaid, underappreciated and overwhelmed most of the time. They take money from their own pockets to help their children. They work long, tedious hours for them. They are everything that is good in our school systems. They are what insures our future in this world.